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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472318">arsehole/guy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyCuriosity/pseuds/MyCuriosity'>MyCuriosity</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TSV - Fandom, Twosetviolin, Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Oneshot, Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:40:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyCuriosity/pseuds/MyCuriosity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wait, you’re a guy?”</p>
<p>“See, I knew you’d be an asshole!”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddy Chen/Brett Yang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>arsehole/guy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the soulmate au you didn't need.</p>
<p>Based on this Bones/Kirk trekkie ff: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4683101</p>
<p>Enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Wait, you’re a guy?”</p>
<p>“See, I knew you’d be an asshole!”</p>
<p>With a stormy expression in his eyes, Eddy stared at the boy in front of him.</p>
<p>And angrily huffed out some air.</p>
<p>“I’m late, see you around”, he gritted out and turned # the corner like he had been trying to do in the first place a minute ago.</p>
<p>“Hey, wait!”, he could hear behind him, “What’s your name?!”</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>“Hi, everyone, I am Brett Yang and I’ll be your tutor for Professor Wilder’s lecture on <em>Advanced Comprehension of the Baroque Era</em>.”</p>
<p>Well, fuck him.</p>
<p>Eddy’s soulmate was his tutor.</p>
<p>He was pretty sure that this was against some university policy. The guy hadn’t spotted him yet, so Eddy was quick to divert his eyes and made himself small.</p>
<p>Hiding.</p>
<p>Staring down on his arm, he subconsciously traced the lines of his tattoo with his fingertips.</p>
<p>
  <em>Wait, you’re a guy?</em>
</p>
<p>He was so not prepared to finally hear those words that have haunted him forever.</p>
<p>For the last 22 years, he could never decide if he was angry at them or oddly fond.</p>
<p>His fingers were still gliding over his skin when he noticed the exact moment his soulmate laid eyes on him and realised that Eddy was in the classroom.</p>
<p>Brett’s.</p>
<p>Brett’s eyes.</p>
<p>His name was Brett.</p>
<p>After taking a deep breath, Eddy looked up.</p>
<p>Well.</p>
<p>Turned out that Brett had pretty damn nice eyes.</p>
<p>For a moment, they just stared at each other and okay, yeah, maybe Eddy finally got what everyone was raving about with the whole soulmate thing.</p>
<p>Because all of a sudden the rest of the room vanished and it seemed like his entire world was revolving around the other.</p>
<p>And he wasn’t sure if he liked that idea.</p>
<p>For the rest of the lesson, it was clear that they both avoided to look at each other.</p>
<p>When class ended, Eddy tried to get away quickly. But at the same time he also didn’t. There was a pull that wanted him to stay behind. Stay close to Brett.</p>
<p>Oh jeez, was this how his life was going to pan out from now on?</p>
<p>“Hi.”</p>
<p>He had made it as far as the door, when the voice drew him back.</p>
<p>“Sorry about earlier. I didn’t want to run you over.”</p>
<p>There was not much of that confidence left that Brett had displayed during the tutoring.</p>
<p>Eddy turned around to see the other fidget with the strap of his bag that was slung over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“My name is Brett”, he continued.</p>
<p>“I know. You said that earlier.”</p>
<p>“Oh, right”, Brett seemed at a loss for words.</p>
<p>“Well”, he cleared his throat, “sorry, again. I didn’t do it on purpose.”</p>
<p>“Apology accepted”, Eddy murmured.</p>
<p>“Have you forgiven me enough to tell me your name?”</p>
<p>There was a shy but cute smile curling around Brett’s lips.</p>
<p>It was oddly endearing.</p>
<p>“Maybe next time”, Eddy only answered, and even though he felt weirded out, he couldn’t help the small smile of his own.</p>
<p>Brett was obviously stunned for a moment.</p>
<p>Just when Eddy finally turned around to leave, the “unfair!” followed him out of the room.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>“You did <em>what</em>?”</p>
<p>“I met my soulmate.”</p>
<p>“Holy fuck, what’s he like?”</p>
<p>“He’s my tutor”, Eddy grimaced while opening the door of his flat.</p>
<p>As soon as he left campus, he tried to call his sister, who was still his best friend to this day.</p>
<p>“That sounds like a bad fanfiction”, she laughed, clearly amused.</p>
<p>“Glad to hear you see the joy in it”, he answered dryly and dropped his bag on the kitchen table.</p>
<p>“So, tell me. How is he?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to him.”</p>
<p>“Eddy”, Belle sighed, “did you at least give him a chance to talk to you? Or did you just ran away?”</p>
<p>“You should be on my side!”</p>
<p>“I am on your side”, she said, “which is why I want you to make an effort. Don’t be your best introvert self. He’s your soulmate.”</p>
<p>“Pretty sure he’s a dick.”</p>
<p>“You don’t even know that. Give him a chance”, the soft scolding made Eddy feel like a child again, “is he cute?”</p>
<p>“He’s…not bad looking.”</p>
<p>“You like him already then! God, I can’t wait to meet him.”</p>
<p>“I said it before and I say it again: you need to be on my side!”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but we both know you’re just gonna screw this one up. Somebody needs to help your soulmate. What’s his name?”</p>
<p>“Brett”, Eddy confessed and saying that name made a rush of relief surging through him, “Brett Yang.”</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>Brett Yang was waiting outside of the conservatory at 8am sharp on the next morning, just on the entrance of the orchestra rehearsal room that the third years were due to arrive within the next fifteen minutes.</p>
<p>“That’s a bit stalkish”, Eddy said, although he couldn’t entirely conceal a smile when Brett handed him a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>“It didn’t take a genius”, Brett answered, a pleased expression on his face, “considering I know which semester you are. The violin you carried yesterday gave the performance major away.”</p>
<p>“So, you’re not stupid”, Eddy established, sipping on the coffee.</p>
<p>“I try not to be. Most of the time.”</p>
<p>The last statement was accompanied by a chuckle and a prickling sensation went through Eddy, hearing that sound.</p>
<p>“I wanted to propose something”, Brett continued after a moment of silence, his feet shuffling slightly. Eddy wondered if he was nervous.</p>
<p>“Go ahead”, Eddy encouraged him, curious where this was going.</p>
<p>“I know we kinda got off on the wrong foot”, there was some fumbling on the strings of his hoodie again and Eddy started to wonder if Brett was one of those people fidgeting all the time, “but I think we just need to get to know each other better.”</p>
<p>“That’s a given”, Eddy scoffed but immediately followed up with, “I mean, yes, you’re probably right”, when he saw Brett’s face fall.</p>
<p>Which immediately lit up again.</p>
<p>“You call all the shots”, Brett promised immediately and then shoved a piece of paper towards Eddy, which he must have had prepared beforehand, “just give me a ring or a text or a whatsapp or hit me up on social, or whatever is best for you. And then we can meet, like, with having time and stuff. Or just call, if you’re not comfortable meeting. Or whatever. Whatever you like, really.”</p>
<p>“You’re blushing”, was Eddy’s only comment. But he did took the paper. It had Brett’s phone number on it.</p>
<p>“You make me really nervous”, Brett confessed, his hands locked tightly behind his back now, probably to keep them still.</p>
<p>“I never make anyone nervous”, Eddy’s perplex answer came.</p>
<p>He was a teddy bear. Everyone knew that.</p>
<p>“Well, you’re intimidating enough for me.”</p>
<p>“Oh”, Eddy realised, “I didn’t make a very good first impression, did I?”</p>
<p>“It’s okay”, Brett shrugged, “I didn’t either. I’d like to change that though. Do you?”</p>
<p>A warm feeling was flushing through Eddy and he couldn’t help but smile.</p>
<p>“Yeah”, he answered, “I’d like that.”</p>
<p>And then he pushed his hand out.</p>
<p>“I’m Eddy.”</p>
<p>Brett’s smile was reaching over his entire face and it made Eddy feel flustered.</p>
<p>“I am so happy to have finally met you Eddy.”</p>
<p>When they’re hands touched, Eddy knew that his world was just turned upside down.</p>
<p>Or downside right?</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>The first time they met outside of the con, it was to get bubble tea.</p>
<p>That was right down Eddy’s alley.</p>
<p>And it wasn’t even him suggesting it.</p>
<p>Maybe the universe was up to something after all.</p>
<p>“Have many of your friends and family met their soulmate?”, Brett asked, after an astonishing ten minute period of incredibly awkward silence that they had spent leaving the bubble tea store and just walking around.</p>
<p>“Not many”, Eddy said in relief, just happy to say anything at all, “my sister found her soulmate but most of my friends are still desperately searching. Yours?”</p>
<p>“All of them.”</p>
<p>“All of them?”, Eddy asked surprised and turned to him, “all of your friends and relatives?”</p>
<p>“All of them”, Brett only confirmed with a laugh, “I am the last one. My brother was the luckiest, he met his soulmate when he was four and starting kindergarten.”</p>
<p>“Damn”, Eddy mumbled, amazed. And then, “jesus, you must have been bricking it.”</p>
<p>“Pretty much”, Brett answered, with another smile that didn’t look like he regretted anything. He seemed like an oddly positive person.</p>
<p>“Sorry for letting you wait.”</p>
<p>And where did that came from, Mr. Eddy Chen? He was so surprised by himself that he nearly missed the absolutely delighted face Brett made.</p>
<p>“No worries. I didn’t mind the wait.”</p>
<p>“How old are you?”</p>
<p>“23.”</p>
<p>“Why have I never seen you at the con before? I’ve been here for three years and have never even seen you on campus.”</p>
<p>“I transferred from Julliard this year.”</p>
<p>Eddy stopped in his tracks.</p>
<p>“Why on earth would you do that?”</p>
<p>Brett just shrugged his shoulder.</p>
<p>“A couple of different reasons. It just worked out like that.”</p>
<p>“You need to tell me all about Julliard!”, Eddy was so excited just by the idea, “what are the lessons like? Are there really as strict? And as competitive? Is everyone a prodigy?”</p>
<p>With a smile, Brett was happy to entertain Eddy for the next half hour. Simply happy that they had something to talk about.</p>
<p>They ended up at South Bank by the time they had exhausted the topic of Julliard and they had gotten some cold juices because the bubble tea was long gone.</p>
<p>“So”, Brett started and his voice was serious enough to make Eddy look up, “you don’t like the soulmate idea.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t a question.</p>
<p>“What makes you think that?”</p>
<p>Brett gave him an odd look.</p>
<p>“You didn’t exactly jump up and down in excitement when we met. You called me an arsehole, to be exact.”</p>
<p>For a second, it was Eddy flushing.</p>
<p>But then he remembered the years he absolutely agonised over his soulmate mark.</p>
<p>“You’re not gay.”</p>
<p>It had been eating at him.</p>
<p>His sister always reminded him that “<em>wait, you’re a guy</em>?” could mean a lot of things but Eddy eventually hit puberty and he had no illusions about it.</p>
<p>There were soulmates who were just friends. That’s what his mouther always told him when he couldn’t sleep at night.</p>
<p>Happy-best-friend-soulmates.</p>
<p>Eddy didn’t know if he wanted that. Eddy also didn’t like the idea of maybe being forced into a soulmate friendship. He wanted his soulmate-love-story. Like everyone else.</p>
<p>“<em>It won’t matter</em>”, his sister chastised him, “<em>it’s your soulmate. It’ll be natural. It’ll be whatever is best for you guys</em>.”</p>
<p>Nothing felt natural about any of this.</p>
<p>“You caught me off guard”, Brett confessed, “I just never considered that you could potentially not be a girl.”</p>
<p>“So, you are not gay”, Eddy only repeated, getting defensive about it and crossing his arm over his chest.</p>
<p>Instead of looking at Brett, he stared ahead to the water front. He could feel the other’s gaze on him.</p>
<p>“Does it matter though?”</p>
<p>Eddy’s head whipped around to look into Brett’s open face.</p>
<p>Who just shrugged again.</p>
<p>“We’ll figure it out. That I was a bit more into girls than boys in the past doesn’t matter. I have found you now. Nothing else matters.”</p>
<p>“Are you telling me, that I made a fuss about something for twenty years that is in fact not actually a big deal?”</p>
<p>“I mean”, Brett started, an amused gleam in his eyes, sipping on his juice, “you could have asked before making assumptions.”</p>
<p>Eddy only groaned.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>The next time they met, Belle was tagging along.</p>
<p>“I am so sorry, I couldn’t stop her.”</p>
<p>Eddy was actually embarrassed but to his absolute mortification, he soon realised that Belle and Brett got on like a house on fire. From the first second, they were huddling together over the table in the coffee shop they were at.</p>
<p>“Here is a list of the things he loves and here one for the things he hates”, Belle just handed an entire folder to Brett, who looked clearly surprised, “and here is comfort food he needs and also, this list”, she opened the folder right at the beginning, “this is things you should be aware about in general. Just, you know, a bit like a manual.”</p>
<p>“Are you out of your mind?”, Eddy couldn’t believe his ears.</p>
<p>“Um, thanks”, Brett laughed and started to absentmindedly look through the folder. Before Eddy could say anything else, he could hear the other exclaim, “Oh, so you do feel awkward about social interaction in general! I thought it was only around me, that’s a relief.”</p>
<p>Honestly, Eddy felt so put out that he got up and went to get a new coffee although he still had a full one in front of him.</p>
<p>He didn’t need to look around to notice Brett following him after a couple of seconds.</p>
<p>Stupid soulmate thing made him feel the other being close by.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry”, Brett said and put a reassuring hand on his forearm, which immediately went to feel flushed and warm, traitorous body part that it was.</p>
<p>“I thought you wanted to get to know me.”</p>
<p>“I do”, Brett confirmed and moved to stand properly next to him to look him into the eyes.</p>
<p>It was the first time they were this close and Eddy noticed that the other was a head shorter than him and he didn’t know how to feel about it.</p>
<p>“Your sister surprised me. She’s great though.”</p>
<p>Eddy sighed deeply and unclenched his hands.</p>
<p>“She’s stupid.”</p>
<p>“She cares”, Brett only said softly, “she means well. Seems like she is worried about you.”</p>
<p>“Just worried I’ll fuck it up.”</p>
<p>“Are you?”</p>
<p>“Am I what?”, Eddy asked surprised and turned to Brett, who’s hand was still comfortably resting on his arm, even though they started to move up in the queue.</p>
<p>“Afraid you’ll fuck it up?”</p>
<p>“Aren’t you?”</p>
<p>“Terribly”, Brett confirmed with a smile that was entirely contraire to the words he said, “but there is not much more that we can do besides trying.”</p>
<p>“Hmpf”, was all Eddy contributed to that, “you’re terribly mature.”</p>
<p>At that, Brett laughed out loud.</p>
<p>“I am really not. Not if you know me. Well”, Brett added after seeing Eddy raising an eyebrow, “as soon as you know me better.”</p>
<p>“Do we need to establish who is going to be the responsible one?”</p>
<p>“Do you have a tendency to do absolutely stupid things?”</p>
<p>“No. Not really”, Eddy tried to think about it but couldn’t come up with anything.</p>
<p>“Good. Because I do stupid things all the time. You can be the responsible one then.”</p>
<p>And if that didn’t nearly already send him into cardiac arrest, Brett’s hand gliding down his arm and taking his hand to pull him up to the register surely did.</p>
<p>Because Eddy was stunned into silence, Brett just ordered them some cake and three bottles of water and then paid for it all.</p>
<p>When his hand left Eddy’s to get his cash, it felt proper empty afterwards.</p>
<p>The rest of their afternoon had the sole purpose of only embarrassing Eddy further with Belle just dishing out one story from his childhood after the other, having found an eager listener in Brett.</p>
<p>Who casually had his left foot hooked around Eddy’s right ankle.</p>
<p>Which distracted him so much that he barely listened.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>“I don’t see why you should be nervous, you’re clearly good at this.”</p>
<p>It sounded like an empty saying, so Eddy was more annoyed than happy to hear it.</p>
<p>“Okay”, Brett recoiled immediately, his finger thrumming on the top of the piano.</p>
<p>Eddy had a concert tonight. And a solo. And he was kinda terrified.</p>
<p>So they were in one of the practice rooms, Eddy wanting to go through his parts again.</p>
<p>Brett had tried to stop him, claiming that it would be better if he got his mind off things instead of concentrating on it too much.</p>
<p>“Look, you’re only going to confuse yourself if you continue”, Brett tried again after another ten minutes of Eddy hammering away on a passage.</p>
<p>Apparently, that was the tipping point of Eddy’s patience.</p>
<p>“Just because you’re my soulmate doesn’t mean that you’re right!”</p>
<p>“I never said I was.”</p>
<p>Poor Brett was clearly confused about their interaction.</p>
<p>“I am just saying that-…”</p>
<p>“-..that you know everything better!”</p>
<p>“Look”, Brett tried again, his hands up in a calming gesture but Eddy didn’t even let him get any further.</p>
<p>“Just leave.”</p>
<p>“But I want to-..”</p>
<p>“I don’t care! Please leave. Being my soulmate doesn’t give you the right to be around me 24/7.”</p>
<p>For a moment, Brett actually looked hurt.</p>
<p>With a determined motion, he got up from the piano stool he had been resting on.</p>
<p>Instead of storming out of the door like Eddy expected him to, he came closer and took Eddy’s violin out of his hand.</p>
<p>“Hey, what..?”, Eddy asked confused but Brett simply slung his arms around his torso and pressed himself close.</p>
<p>And all fight went out of Eddy.</p>
<p>After a moments hesitation, he hesitantly put his arms around Brett’s shoulder.</p>
<p>This was quite nice.</p>
<p>“Stop being so tense”, Brett mumbled in his neck and his breath tingled on Eddy’s skin.</p>
<p>“It’s not like that.”</p>
<p>“Well, then stop overthinking it.”</p>
<p>Eddy sighed.</p>
<p>Leaning his head to his left, he rested his cheek on Brett’s hair.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and concentrated on Brett’s breathing.</p>
<p>In. Out. In. Out.</p>
<p>“Don’t fall asleep”, Brett piped in at the exact time, Eddy became so relaxed that he forgot where they were for a moment.</p>
<p>Entangling himself from Brett, he kept a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>He knew that Brett’s soulmate tattoo was somewhere in that area, but he didn’t dare to touch it.</p>
<p>“Feeling better?”</p>
<p>Brett’s voice had a soothing tone.</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>And he did.</p>
<p>“Good. Let’s go for bubble tea then.”</p>
<p>With a smile, Eddy followed the other’s lead.</p>
<p>Not even question it anymore.</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>Brett was tired.</p>
<p>Is what Eddy noticed immediately when the tutoring session started.</p>
<p>They had greeted each other with small smiles when entering the classroom but not much more. Still unsure how to behave around each other and especially not in public.</p>
<p>“Let’s go for coffee”, Eddy said immediately as soon as the lesson had ended and people had just started to pour out of the room.</p>
<p>Surprised, Brett looked at him, still packing his stuff together.</p>
<p>“I am meant to practice. I have an exam coming up.”</p>
<p>“There is always time for coffee.”</p>
<p>For whatever reason, Eddy could not let this go.</p>
<p>Could not let Brett walk out of here being upset.</p>
<p>“You’re right”, Brett said with a laugh that didn’t reach his eyes, “there is always time for coffee.”</p>
<p>Eddy wondered if Brett was one of those people who would put up a happy face for his surroundings.</p>
<p>He was oddly silent, when they walked along the corridors.</p>
<p>And Eddy was terrible at small talk.</p>
<p>“How was your day so far?”, Brett finally asked when they were nearing the cafeteria.</p>
<p>Happy to have a reason to talk, Eddy indulged a bit too much in his rant about his violin teacher criticising his Barber.</p>
<p>“Do you like to perform?”, Brett asked, apparently happy about the distraction as well.</p>
<p>“Yes and no.”</p>
<p>“Performance anxiety?”</p>
<p>“As if there was no tomorrow. Do you get nervous on stage?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. But I still force myself to do it as much as possible. Practice it. So it doesn’t get as scary anymore.”</p>
<p>“Do you force yourself to do a lot of things?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“Like today, when you forced yourself to smile but didn’t want to?”</p>
<p>Sheepishly, Brett concentrated a bit too much on his coffee cup that he just received.</p>
<p>“Was it that obvious?”</p>
<p>“Not to the other students.”</p>
<p>For whatever reason, that caused a pleased expression to settle on Brett’s face even though Eddy only said what was directly on his mind, unfiltered.</p>
<p>“What’s up then?”, he asked and guided Brett outside so that they could walk around campus before Brett would head into one of the practice rooms he had reserved for the rest of the day.</p>
<p>“It’s, well, I don’t know”, Brett was fidgeting again, with his cup this time and carefully, to not spill anything or scare the other, Eddy took one of his hands. And squeezed it reassuringly.</p>
<p>The look Brett gave him in return was the most vulnerable thing Eddy had ever seen and he would lock it in his heart and make sure it will stay a secret between the two of them.</p>
<p>“It’s my mother”, Brett continued, as if he hadn’t stopped for nearly a minute, “she’s unwell. It’s why I transferred back home.”</p>
<p>“I am so sorry to hear.”</p>
<p>Seeing how much it pained Brett made Eddy want to reach out. But he didn’t. Not yet. He just held onto the others hand a bit tighter.</p>
<p>“It’s okay”, Brett said quietly, “she’s been doing a lot better. It has just been a long week.”</p>
<p>“Is there anything I can do?”</p>
<p>“You got me coffee.”</p>
<p>This time, Brett’s smile was real.</p>
<p>And Eddy got it.</p>
<p>Just being around each other made them feel…right. Whole. Complete.</p>
<p>Everything the books have always been talking about.</p>
<p>Belle was right after all.</p>
<p>“Can I ask you a question?”</p>
<p>“You just did.”</p>
<p>Eddy rolled his eyes and pulled on their intertwined hands to make Brett stumble, who only laughed at that.</p>
<p>“Your soulmate mark.”</p>
<p>Brett became immediately quiet upon that.</p>
<p>“Has it ever bothered you?”</p>
<p>“Not really.”</p>
<p>“You must be lying.”</p>
<p>“Why do you think that?”, Brett asked with a chuckle, sipping on his coffee.</p>
<p>“Because I said terrible things the first time we met.”</p>
<p>Brett’s laugh was so loud that some heads turned around to them and Eddy tried to shush him quickly.</p>
<p>Pulling down his shirt, Brett revealed the words nestling on his collarbone.</p>
<p>
  <em>See, I knew you’d be an arsehole!</em>
</p>
<p>Eddy couldn’t help but be embarrassed about them.</p>
<p>My god, poor Brett had been running around the world for 23 years with his soulmate calling him an arsehole permanently printed on his skin.</p>
<p>“I don’t actually thing that you’re an asshole”, he confessed.</p>
<p>“That’s a relief”, Brett snickered but didn’t seem too upset about it in the first place.</p>
<p>“You really don’t care?”</p>
<p>Eddy just couldn’t believe it.</p>
<p>“I always assumed it was because I did something stupid”, Brett said, taking another sip of his coffee, “and it was a nice reminder to not be an asshole. You never know when you meet your soulmate.”</p>
<p>“Goddamn”, Eddy huffed, “that is a terrible nice way to look at it.”</p>
<p>“I had a long time to come to terms with it”, Brett only shrugged, “and in the end, I was still being stupid when it finally happened.”</p>
<p>With a sigh, Eddy tried to will his red face away.</p>
<p>“You really weren’t.”</p>
<p>“Well, I did just blurt out the very first thing that came to my mind. My mother always said I need to start thinking before I speak.”</p>
<p>“But”, and this was one of Eddy’s biggest insecurities, “you don’t mind me being a guy, right? In the end?”</p>
<p>When Brett turned to him, it was with a brilliant smile.</p>
<p>“Absolutely not”, he said, which made Eddy feel all mushy on the inside, “you could also be an alien, I wouldn’t care.”</p>
<p>“Oi!”</p>
<p>/</p>
<p>“Would you freak out, if I invite you over to my place?”</p>
<p>It was another early rehearsal for Eddy and as it was tradition between them at this point, Brett was waiting for him at the entrance with two cups of coffee.</p>
<p>It was the first time in forever that Eddy got out of bed easily, automatically smiling as soon as he spotted Brett.</p>
<p>“You need to stop handling me with care, I am not actually made out of glass.”</p>
<p>“Is that a yes?”</p>
<p>“That is a yes”, Eddy confirmed and thanked him for the coffee.</p>
<p>“Nice. I want you to meet my parents.”</p>
<p>“Oh”, he didn’t know why, but that hadn’t been what Eddy had expected when Brett had asked him to come to his house.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, they are really nice.”</p>
<p>“I’m not worried”, Eddy said while simultaneously realising that he was.</p>
<p>Brett only smiled at him and took his hand to squeeze it.</p>
<p>Which was calming Eddy’s nerves immediately.</p>
<p>So, when the weekend rolled around, Eddy had stress-baked as usual and was intensely happy when Brett texted him that he would pick him up.</p>
<p>“My mother is a bit more tired than anticipated but she is still really excited to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Is she doing okay though?”</p>
<p>They had talked a lot about their families in the last couple of weeks, so Eddy knew that Mama Yang was just recovering from a chemo that had been deemed a success.</p>
<p>“Yeah, she just wasn’t well this morning, but we couldn’t convince her to invite you on another day. She just really wants to meet you.”</p>
<p>“What have you told them about me?”</p>
<p>For a moment, Brett was actually blushing and concentrating a bit too obvious on the traffic.</p>
<p>“Not that I hate you, right?”</p>
<p>“No, of course not”, Brett answered, glancing over to check if Eddy was seriously worried or if he said it as a joke. They were still not at the point where they could tell that immediately.</p>
<p>“I was just a bit closed off, after we met. About you, I mean.”</p>
<p>“So..”, Eddy started again, “they know nothing about me?”</p>
<p>“Not nothing”, Brett was so obviously skirting around the topic that Eddy was kind of amused by it, “but like, you know that our first meeting wasn’t exactly textbook-soulmate-falling-in-love. Which is totally fine!”, he reassured immediately, “I think it was very us and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I mean, of course, I wouldn’t mind if it would have turned out a bit differently, but, you know-…”</p>
<p>“Oh my god, Brett. Are you nervous?”</p>
<p>After a moment of silence a single “yes” came as miserable response.</p>
<p>“You just said your parents don’t hate me. That’s good, ay?”</p>
<p>“Yes, that’s good. Very good even”, and at that moment, Brett turned into his driveway, “but I kinda held off to talk about you at the beginning. Because we didn’t really know where we stood. And my parents are very Asian.”</p>
<p>“Very nosey, you mean?”</p>
<p>Brett laughed and turned to him.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Super nosey. They mean well.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>As soon as they got in, it was a whirlwind of Asian family at its best.</p>
<p>Besides Brett’s parents and his brother and his brother’s soulmate, they were also his favourite uncle and their respective soulmate as well as his favourite cousin, again, with partner and honestly, how did everyone already have a soulmate and how did Brett not go absolutely insane with all those couples around him?</p>
<p>They were all lovely though.</p>
<p>He was immediately treated as family and Brett stuck close to his side as well, just to make him feel a bit more comfortable. Because he knew that Eddy hated social gatherings with people he didn’t knew.</p>
<p>Because he was such a nice human being.</p>
<p>Eddy watched Brett in a moment where the attention wasn’t on them. Watched him leaning against the frame of the door, looking at his mother talking to his brother, fondness in his eyes.</p>
<p>And then watched how Brett looked over to him and his smile broadened just a bit more and the crinkles around his eyes increased even deeper.</p>
<p>His whole face screaming love and happiness.</p>
<p>And Eddy’s stomach plummeted.</p>
<p>He just realised that he was totally okay with spending the rest of his life with this other human, no matter what they were. As long as they were together.</p>
<p>Grabbing some empty plates, he excused himself to the kitchen.</p>
<p>Even though he knew, he wouldn’t be alone for very long, Eddy still pretended to not notice when Brett entered shortly after him.</p>
<p>“You okay?”</p>
<p>Brett was leaning against the counter, looking at Eddy from the side.</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>“You seem distracted.”</p>
<p>Taking a deep breath, Eddy turned to Brett with intent.</p>
<p>“I just realised that I love you.”</p>
<p>Brett looked at him with surprise.</p>
<p>“Okay”, was the tentative response.</p>
<p>“Like, really love you.”</p>
<p>At that, Brett’s face turned all soft again and Eddy’s stomach plummeted even further.</p>
<p>As if on instinct, Eddy grabbed the sharpy from the counter next to Brett and then his arm.</p>
<p><em>I love you</em>, he wrote in clear letters on it.</p>
<p>“I want this to be the words written on your skin. I am sorry for calling you an asshole. I know you’re not”, grabbing onto both of Brett’s hands he continued, “quite the opposite. You’re so kind and thoughtful and you always want the best for people and you’re always so positive and I know, just know, that this is the only thing that makes sense for me.”</p>
<p>Brett took a shaky breath, looking down at their hands. Looking at the words on his arm.</p>
<p>“Why are you crying?”, Eddy asked surprised, his thumb quickly gliding over Brett’s cheekbone, catching the first tears.</p>
<p>“Because I love you too”, he said and when he looked up, Eddy knew that he meant it, “I really do and I am so happy to hear you say that but I am also still afraid to fuck it all up.”</p>
<p>Without thinking about it, Eddy’s hand settled on Brett’s neck and pulled him up into a kiss.</p>
<p>It was such a small innocent thing but it still felt like the best decision he had ever made in his life.</p>
<p>“Let’s just take it step by step, yeah?”</p>
<p>Leaning his forehead against Brett’s, his hands framed the others face.</p>
<p>Brett’s right hand was wrapping around his wrist. And then slowly gliding down his forearm.</p>
<p>Along his soulmate mark.</p>
<p>A warm shower went through Eddy when Brett touched the words with his fingertips.</p>
<p>Loosening their hold, Brett grabbed the sharpy Eddy had put back on the counter.</p>
<p>Just underneath his tattoo, he wrote:</p>
<p>
  <em>I love you too</em>
</p>
<p>And then:</p>
<p>
  <em>Even if you are a guy</em>
</p>
<p>With some tears of his own, Eddy laughed out loud and just grabbed Brett’s face again to kiss him fiercely.</p>
<p>Kiss that smile fiercely that would accompany him for the rest of his life.</p>
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